Creamy yellow glunk on the oil cap?

[Jamesmaier]

Hey guy,

Just went to look at a vs today and saw some kind of residue on the oil cap. It was creamy, yellow and fairly firm in texture. Not sure what it is exactly, but thinking blown head gasket or at the very least cracked. But I always thought that was from a whitish foam.

Thanks for any help.

[Voodoo_SV6]

Have a look down the dipstick tube, and in thru the oil filler

also see if there is contamination in the coolant.

Can be crap oil, but if its good quality oil and fresh, I think you have it right

[hako]

Plenty of cars have that creamy gunk in the oil cap - usually it's caused by short runs where the engine does not get hot enough to burn off any condensation inside the block. It can indicate a bad head gasket or cracked head, but these are not common problems in Ecotecs. The problem is worse during the cooler months but is no big deal, and like I said it's pretty common.

[Jamesmaier]

Can this cause any damage further down the track? Also is there a chance it could be a blown head gasket?

[scvs6]

Usually thats a sign of a blown head gasket. Also pull the dipstick out and see if the oil looks milky.

[Burnout124]

verry unlikely a blown head gasket and i would not be to worried just check for water in oil or oil in water but unless your car has been over heating or running rough there is no need to be concerned !

[hako]

I wouldn't even think twice about it unless there are other signs. Google it if still unsure, but as mentioned before, this is very common - unless you do long runs in any car (over 30km), you will end up with the white oil/water emulsion under the oil cap. If it were very thick...like dripping mayonaisse, and the engine did not run smooth plus the engine oil was milky then I'd worry. But otherwise just ask the owner what the car was used for and what a 'normal' trip would have been.

[Brett_jjj]

The V6 engines have a well known problem with the inlet manifold gaskets slowly cracking over time,which causes them to weep coolant into the engine slightly, until they get to the stage where they leak pretty badly and effect the coolant levels and cause the buildup of the yellow or white slime under the oil cap,It also effects the performance and economy of the engine..This slime is mostly caused by evaporated coolant thats evaporated out of the crankcase and also out of the hot oil itself....If the engine is a V6 and it has 150,000 K's or more on it,than you can just about guarantee that the gaskets are starting to weep causing the slime,and it will only slowly get worse.The good news is that these gaskets are easy and cheap to replace.MACE, who are a sponsor of this website, make aluminum inlet manifold gaskets for the ecotec,these should last for years..

[jatsvl]

if the oil in the sump (dipstick) is not milky i wouldn't worry about it, it is just condensation mixing with the oil deposits under the cap, wipe the cap clean and it won't come back until you get more oil deposits under the cap, which takes sometime to build up.
in all it is normal.

[Jamesmaier]

is this problem likely to do any more damage to the car over time?

[hsv91ss]

+1 on the Inlet Manifold gasket, had the same thing also blew white smoke when u gave it a few hard revs replaced the gasket, better fuel consumption, performance and no more smoke.

[jatsvl]

is this problem likely to do any more damage to the car over time?

if it is just condensation, then there will be no problems whatsoever further down the track. it is normal!
if it is blowing smoke, the sump oil is like iced coffee or there is oily sludge in the radiator then you need to get it checked for head gasket/crack or inlet manifold gasket as above have mentioned.
again if non of the above are happening then just relax.

[hako]

is this problem likely to do any more damage to the car over time?

James - take a pic of the oil cap, although you will still get answers from every direction, that's the problem with forums - you get the worst and best scenario and how do you pick?
The white oily deposit in the cap will not in itself cause damage - it is simply the result of condensation from normal combustion processes combining/emulsifying with oil and making itself evident on the oil cap.
My view of this based on what I have experienced over many many years of driving and from your description is simply NO.